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Martin Brodeur says he won’t be heading to Devils front office any time soon

If Martin Brodeur is going to head back to the New Jersey Devils to join their front office, it won’t be for at least a few years, he says. Currently part of the St. Louis Blues front office, Brodeur said that he has yet to be contacted by the Devils and believes he could be part of the Blues’ draft table in June.

If Martin Brodeur is going to be a New Jersey Devil again, it won’t be happening in the near future.

According to Tom Gulitti of northjersey.com’s Fire and Ice, Brodeur says that if he is going to head back to New Jersey, where he began his career and built his legendary resume, it won’t be for at least the next few years, citing the change in GM from Lou Lamoreillo to Ray Shero as the main reason.

“Especially with the change (the Devils) made, I think it’s a great opportunity for me to take a step back and go somewhere – or stay somewhere – that I’ll be able to learn and do things I want to do and try to learn as much as possible and who knows what the future,” Brodeur told Gulitti. “But, it’s less and less likely it’s going to happen in New Jersey for a few years, that’s for sure.”

It’s somewhat shocking to hear Brodeur, a surefire Hall of Famer who is synonymous with New Jersey Devils hockey, be so certain that he won’t return to the club that he spent 21 seasons with. But the reason is that Brodeur might be close to coming back to the St. Louis Blues’ front office next season.

Brodeur became a part of the Blues front office last season after announcing his retirement from the league in January. He first joined the Blues in November 2014 after going without a contract for the duration of the off-season following the 2013-14 season. He appeared in just seven games with the Blues, posting a 3-3 record, 2.87 goals-against average and .899 save percentage before hanging up his skates for good.

Lamoreillo, the Devils’ current president, told THN’s Ken Campbell that Brodeur would be back in the fold in New Jersey, even after he had taken the gig with the Blues.

“He’ll be back here,” Lamoriello said. “(In St. Louis) he’s going to be as close to being a player for the rest of the year as he was when he was playing. He’s going to be travelling with the team and working with them and looking at things in a little different perspective. But the door is open for him to come back here. This is not something I look at as a negative as all.”

But Brodeur told Gulitti that he’s yet to hear from New Jersey this off-season, so he’s uncertain when that will be.

“I don’t know the new GM [Shero] that’s there,” Brodeur said. “I haven’t talked to anybody in New Jersey actually. That’s something that if they want to talk to me, I’m here. But, we haven’t talked at all.”

For now, it appears that Brodeur will be staying in St. Louis and, writes Gulitti, there’s a possibility he will join the Blues at their draft table in June.

“We kind of went along that I was going to stay and then after that we’ll figure out what we’re going to do,” Brodeur told Gulitti. “So, definitely the draft, the combine, the meetings with the scouts and everything. All the organizations do the same thing. If I decide to go back there, I’m ready for it. I’ve got all the dates I need to do.”